A Nigerian man who was quarantined after he showed Ebola-like symptoms while travelling to Hong Kong has tested negative for the deadly virus.
The southern Chinese city said in a statement late last night that the 32-year-old had “tested negative for Ebola virus upon preliminary laboratory testing.”
The statement went on: “In the past one month he had no contact history with sick persons or animals and did not visit health-care facilities. He is currently in a stable condition.”
The man arrived in Hong Kong from Lagos, Nigeria’s most populous city, via Dubai last Thursday and was admitted to hospital yesterday after vomiting and having diarrhea.
Concerns are growing over the potential spread of the disease which has claimed nearly 1,000 lives in West Africa this year.
Hong Kong, a densely populated city of some 7 million people, is particularly alert to the spread of viruses after Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, killed almost 300 people 11 years ago.
On July 30, the Hong Kong government said it would quarantine as a precaution all people from Ebola-infected areas who showed any symptom of the disease such as fever, vomiting or diarrhea.
Last week, a woman who showed Ebola-like symptoms after returning from a holiday in Kenya tested negative for the virus.
Nigeria along with Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia has been hardest hit by the latest epidemic, which the World Health Organization has called the worst outbreak of its kind in four decades.
Nigeria — the most populous nation in Africa — confirmed two new cases on Friday of the often fatal hemorrhagic disease, bringing the total number of infections to nine, including two deaths.
The WHO declared the epidemic an international health emergency, as countries scramble to impose measures to prevent any spread of the contagion.
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A Nigerian man who was quarantined after he showed Ebola-like symptoms while travelling to Hong Kong has tested negative for the deadly virus.
